TikTok may be Gen Z’s jukebox of choice, but short YouTube videos are quickly becoming popular among music listeners, according to a new report from entertainment industry data firm Luminate.
According to a Luminate survey, the percentage of self-identified music listeners aged 13 and over in the U.S. who said they had used YouTube Shorts jumped from 26% to 31% between Q2 2023 and Q2 2024.
TikTok remains top of the list among music fans, with 33% of respondents saying they used the platform in the last quarter, the same percentage as in Q2 2023. The app’s popularity may have plateaued among music listeners after it lost access to Universal Music Group’s catalog, which includes songs by Olivia Rodrigo and Drake, in February amid a contract dispute. The two companies announced the agreement on May 1, and UMG’s songs returned to TikTok shortly thereafter.
Facebook and Instagram Reels lagged behind TikTok and YouTube in the percentage of music fans who said they use the app, at 27% on Facebook and 24% on Instagram last quarter.
YouTube is offering a variety of music-related features in its short videos that could become more popular with creators in the coming months: YouTube’s head of music, Lior Cohen, told GQ in 2022 that short videos are a top priority in the company’s broader music strategy.
When creating Short videos, creators can add copyrighted music to their videos using the YouTube Shorts Audio Library. These songs are provided by record labels that have exclusive licensing agreements with YouTube for Shorts.
YouTube launched a music licensing feature, “Creator Music,” in 2023, that allows creators to purchase licenses to use songs and share revenue with rights holders, but the tool is currently only available for long-form videos.
YouTube Shorts are on the rise, but will marketers follow suit?
TikTok remains the go-to platform for music marketers looking to drive attention to their songs. The app can help boost a song’s success by sparking a wave of user-generated videos that ultimately lead to off-platform streams. But marketers are also testing Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts for song campaigns, and the Luminate report suggests that these apps could become even more important in the coming months.
“We’ve seen significantly more interest in YouTube Shorts this year compared to 2023,” Simon Friend, chief operating officer at music marketing company Round Group, told BI, noting that the TikTok vs. UMG dispute has led to increased interest in alternative platforms this year.
But YouTube Shorts may still be a tough sell for some marketers. Creators on the platform tend to demand more to promote their songs than TikTok users, Friend said. The app also lacks the fast, user-generated trends that make TikTok so effective for music campaigns, he said. TikTok trends have repeatedly catapulted old and new songs into the mainstream.
Short videos have a unique aspect that may be appealing to marketers and their teams: YouTube is a major hub for long-form music content, and its short-video feature could help drive fans to artists’ music videos and other original content, said Jonny Cloherty, CEO of music marketing company Songfluencer.
“One of the things that really interests me about YouTube is how Shorts can drive consumption alongside other artist assets on the platform,” Cloherty said.
“I don’t think it’s anywhere near TikTok yet in terms of discovery and consumption,” he added.